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TL;DR:

  • Aaron Carter covered The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A” for an EP.
  • Afterward, he got signed to a record label.
  • He expressed dissatisfaction with the way the label promoted one of his albums.
Aaron Carter with a phone
Aaron Carter | picture alliance / Contributor

Aaron Carter covered The Beach Boys‘ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” Subsequently, he said he wasn’t a big fan of musical imitators. Notably, the original “Surfin’ U.S.A.” became one of The Beach Boys’ biggest hits.

Aaron Carter covered The Beach Boys’ ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ before he got signed to a record label

According to a 2004 interview from the News-Times, Carter debuted with the 1997 album Aaron Carter. The album was followed by the 1999 EP Surfin’ U.S.A., which contained a cover of The Beach Boys’ song of the same name. Subsequently, Carter signed with Jive Records. He was dissatisfied with the way Jive Records promoted his 2000 album Aaron’s Party (Come Get It).

“Jive put me on the back burner,” he said. “All the shows that I’ve done, all that stuff was all self-promoting. It was all done by me and my managers. [People from Jive] just weren’t doing it for me. It wasn’t good enough. After 12 years of being a professional, I think it’s time to step it up and transition a little bit. That’s my intentions and Jive just couldn’t do that for me. And they weren’t going to.”

While Aaron Carter covered The Beach Boys’ song, he didn’t like artists who copied other artists

While Carter covered “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and other songs, he wasn’t a big fan of musical imitation. “I just honestly think that there’s too many followers,” he said. “Everybody wants to be like everybody.

“And I guess maybe sometimes that makes the industry better, but I just think it’s better to be your own person,” he continued. “Everybody copies everybody else and somebody else gets famous off of that. I think that’s kind of messed up.”

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How the original ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ and Aaron Carter’s cover performed on the pop charts in the United States

The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” became a big hit for the group. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 25 weeks. “Kokomo” was The Beach Boys’ only song that lasted longer on the Billboard Hot 100. “Surfin’ U.S.A.” appeared on the album Surfin’ U.S.A. The album hit No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 63 weeks.

On the other hand, Carter’s “Surfin’ U.S.A” never reached the Billboard Hot 100. Carter’s cover appeared on both the EP Surfin’ U.S.A. and the subsequent album Aaron Cater. Neither hit the Billboard 200.

Carter’s “Surfin’ U.S.A.” wasn’t a hit but it showed The Beach Boys were inspiring others long past their heyday.

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